New neighbour

[Quornflakegirl]

We have a new neighbour who moved in about 2 weeks ago, she’s very friendly and seems nice. The problem is her dog! He barks almost constantly when she leaves him alone, she works nights a few times a week and he just does not stop barking! Tonight he started barking at 8:30 and it is still continuing, I have just messaged her to let her know that he must be very unhappy being left alone. Last week he also some got over her high garden fence and chased my terrified cat over the fence and into the street. Our cat is now scared to go outside and hovers around the back door.

What can I do!? I really want a happy neighbourly atmosphere so need to tread lightly.

@Quornflakegirl

She responded that they are usually quiet when she’s out (not sure how she’d know that) and that she hopes it doesn’t wake me. It did, it kept me up until 1am!

I think you need to respond factually to say they are not quiet and it is keeping you awake.

Then keep a diary.

Then report to RSPCA/council.

You haven't answered - does she own or rent?

It may well be that the dog has been quiet before - remember, she only moved two weeks ago. Dogs can be unsettled by moves and this may have prompted the behaviour.

She needs to address it, however. In the short term there are plug-ins and calming tablets, but long-term the dog needs training if it doesn't settle into the new environment.

I’ve been here. Keep a diary logging the barking dates / times / duration, where you could hear it coming from and what you were disturbed doing at the time. After 11pm it’s important to document lack of sleep etc if it affects that.

Mention it to her every time. Once several weeks of you mentioning it has passed and nothing had been done, contact the council and find out if they deal with it via a dog warden / nuisance noise team and then log a complaint with them.

It’s not an RSPCA issue, btw.

Ps and the advice to record the sound is excellent. We were advised to record the sound for the council but letting her hear it first might put a stop to it. The dog clearly has separation anxiety, possibly as it’s in a new house and it can’t just be left for hours as she is doing.

I would keep up a constant flow of 'information'
polite, factual, but not to be fobbed off.

yes, they did keep me awake, until 1 am, they did the night before too.
your dog escaped your garden and chased my cat into the street.
your dog is barking for 5 hours when you are out.

There are things she can do

1. fences - rescues insist you have 5 foot fences roudn your garden, there is a reason for this!
2. behaviourist to deal with the barking, the dog is distressed at being left
3. doggy daycare for when she is out, that will cost money, but then that is her problem.

I would start with a log now of noise and when. If you can hear it in your house, I would try and record it on video.

If she does nothing towards fixing it, then I would report to council. Keep reporting, keep telling her her dog is barking until someone did something!

The only possible light at the end pf the tunnel is that the dog may be barking because the house is new and it has not yet settled. Give it a month or so and it may settle naturally.

The renting issue is important because the landlord is another port of call to try before raising formal complaints with authority.

Not as in 'Is she allowed to have those dogs', but as in 'Your tenant isn't listening to reasonable requests to keep noise down'.

I am hoping it’s a short term thing because of the unfamiliarity of their new house. She owns the house.

We’re the only ones who can hear the barking as there are no neighbours on the other side of her or behind her house. So, if I laid a complaint she’d know it was us. Dh was reluctant for me to say anything as our young dc can be loud at times but they would never continually make noise for 5 consecutive hours 😳

Yes pp suggestion to keep flow going by text is good. You can keep this to show you tried to solve it between yourselves.

She probably knows because she checked with her old neighbours. We did when we first left our dog, until we put in a camera we needed to check with them if there was any noise.

If she's telling the truth, it might be a case of them just needing to settle down in the new house properly. Doesn't make it any better but it might not be a long term issue...

You aren’t being unreasonable to say that she can’t leave the dog barking.. you are being unreasonable to send her a note saying the dog must be unhappy. It may or may not be but all that will do is annoy her.

Anyway try and deal with it informally - if not report to the council. I doubt the RSPA will be very interested in a dog being left overnight unless there is other evidence of neglect (some dogs just bark a lot) but you can try.

@steppemum

she probably doesn't know.

So go and talk to her. Explain that you don't want to be a pain, but was she aware etc etc. But aslo be clear, he is keeping you awake, and it is not great.

No dog should be left for more than 4 hours, day or night. So if she is working a whole shift and then coming home I'm not surprised he barks.

She knows. OP messaged her

Agree with noise report for council. We have similar situation, dog barks/cries for up to three hours sometimes longer when the NDNs go out, then thankfully falls asleep. We are not doing anything about it because mercifully their house is on the market 🥳 You need to try to nip this in the bud if you can. If our NDNs were staying we would definitely be going down the council noise disturbance route. We worked damn hard to buy our house not to have it ruined by dickhead inconsiderate neighbours.

No point keeping a log before you report either as that doesn’t count or at least not I’m my council.

You start to keep a log now to see if there is a pattern and if it persists.

If things don't improve, then you make the complaint, then you send the continued logs.

Try one of those high frequency devices like Bark Silencer. It emits a high-pitched noise that irritates dogs but can't be heard by humans. Use whenever the dog barks and stop it when the barking stops. Over time the dog will learn that barking = unpleasant noise.